Self-assessment of board members is a vital practice of leadership that top-performing boards employ to ensure long-term governance. It requires the board to take a step back from the day-today routine and examine its effectiveness. This allows board members to tackle issues that might otherwise cause frustration and conflict.
There are a variety of ways to conduct a self-assessment on your board that range from interviews and surveys to facilitation-based discussions. The best method to use is dependent on the size of the board, available resources and the amount you’d like to include in the assessment.
Once you have decided on the method, be sure you are clear about what you hope to accomplish by the process. Do you want to improve accountability or improve governance? Or align governance with the goals of your organization? Once you’ve determined this, you can then choose an evaluation tool.
Some tools allow you to evaluate your results against other hospitals or health systems, while others are focused only on the governance procedures of your organization. It’s important to make sure that the tools you choose are impartial and do not discriminate against directors. This will create a safe environment where honest feedback can be provided.
Many boards use a peer-review procedure, which requires directors to assess each one another. This can be an effective and beneficial exercise, but it’s essential to keep the process confidential. Certain directors might be hesitant to criticize a member of the board for fear of repercussions. In this instance it’s usually better to have the facilitator go through all the responses and decide what ideas are important to communicate to the board.